Freezing apparatus



March 10, 1931. COQKE- 1,795,330

' FREEZING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10, 1927 5 Sheets- Sheet 1 ATTORNEY March 10, 1931. v COOKE 1,795,330

FREEZING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 16, 1927 5 Sheets -Sheet 2 ATTORNEY ll v NTO h M v v V March 10, 1931.

A. H. COOKE FREE Z ING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Shet 5 Filed Feb. 10, 1927 ATTORNEY March 10,1931.

A. H. cooKE FREEZING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY A. H. cooKE 1,795,330 FREEZING APPARATUS March 10,1931.

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ZZZ y Filed Feb. 10. 1927 Patented Mar-1 0, 1931 A UNITED STATES P TEN oFrucE ALEXANDER n. cooxn, or NEW YORK, 11. 2., AssieNoa TO (THE 'armu'rrc ooas'r rrsnnmns comrany, or new YORK, a. Y., A conrorwrron' or manna FREEZING APPARATUS Application filed February 10,1927. Serial No. 167,058.

This invention relates to a novel and improved apparatus for freezin comestibles and finds particular utility in the freezing of fish and the like. In the prior art it has been 5- customary to place comestibles in trays, pans or plates and store them in a refrigerator until. frozen. This procedure has been 'expen sive in both time and apparatus because of the large number of pans 01 the like that it '10 has been necessary to buy and also because of the-fact that it usually takes about twentyfour hours to effectively freeze the comestibles, even when the" pans are placed directly upon refrigeratingcoils; This length of time is necessary with theusual apparatus because of the fact that the refrigerant flowing through the pipes in a refrigerator contacts only with the interior surface of those pipes and this surface forms the only conducting surface. Even-when a pan is placed direct- 1y upon the pipes, the contact between each pipe and a pan is-practically a point of contact, which sharply limits the conduction of heat from the comestibles in the pan to the refrigerantin the pipe. Moreover, the pans themselves are thin and therefore form poor conductors of heat.

It is the object of my invention to provide I a means for freezing comestibles which shall very greatly reduce the time necessary for the freezing to take place and which shall also avoid the necessity of emplo ing containers except for special comestibles, thus cutting down thecost of such containers and the handling of them. s

The fore oing object I achieve by provid ing an en less conveyor having. .thereon a plurality of carriers, the carriers being disposed above a refrigerant tank and having 40 fins or other pro'ections extending down wardly into the re rigerant in the tank. The refrigerant is kept in circulation in a direction opposed to the direction of movement of the conveyor so that the fins are continually subjected to the action of fresh refrigerant. The fins are made of large cross-section and are provided with large conducting surfaces so that there is rovided the combination of a f relatively rapid flow of refrigerant together with a large conducting surface to.

transmit the'heat to the refrigerant and a large cross sectional area to carry-the heat irom the comestibles to the conducting surace.

The carriers are preferably in the form of fiat plates and are supported on tracks which a means of freezing the fish rapidly, but is used to maintain a low temperature on the upper surface of the fish, thereby further increasing the rapidity of the freezing.

In order to expedite removal of comestibles at the unloading stations, there is provided a tank containing liquid which may have the same composition as the refrigerant and which is maintained at a temperature above the freezing point of the comestible to be frozen, and into which the fins on the carriers pass as the carries approach the unloading station.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent during the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the entire apparatus.

Figure 2 is a similar view on a larger scale of one end of the apparatus, the end at which the loading and unloading-stations are disposed.

Figure 2A is a similar view of the other I end of the apparatus than that shown in Figure Figure Figure 1. K

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view through the cleaning apparatus shown in Figure. 3. Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view on an en larged scale, thisview being taken through the'refrigerant tank and approximately on 3 is a section on the line 3 of the line 5-5 of Figure 7.

Figure 6 is a detail view showing the aror, beginning at the point relatively flat plates,

Figure 9 is a plan view of a portion of one of the carriers, parts being broken away.

Figure 10 1s a view showing how oysters,

scallops and the like may be handled on one of the carriers.

Figure 11 is a fragmentary section of a fin showlng one way in which it may be roughened.

Figure 12 is a similar view showing another form of roughening a fin.

Referring now to the drawings it will be seen that my apparatus comprises an endless conve or 1, here shown in the form of an endless" ain, and this chain is supported by a plurality of hangers 2 carrying rollers 3 running on a track 4. The chain is actuated-by suit-able sprockets 5 or the like, which are operated from any suitable source of power, not shown.

Disposed substantially parallel to the conveyor and outside'ofthe path taken thereby 1s a tank which is ada ted to" contain refrigerant. This tank is esignated 6 and extends substantially the entire length of the convey- Figures 1 and 2 and ending at the approximate point designated 8 in iose figures. Referring still to the same figures, there is shownat 9 a loading station at which may stand an operator in order that he may place comestibles upon the carriers 10 as they pass him.

7 These carriers are secured to the conveyor 1 as by means of links 11 which are pivoted to the brackets 12 on the conveyor and to the brackets 13 on the carriers. This construction is best shown in Figure 7. r

The carriers are preferably in the form of as best shown in Figures .5 and 7, and are supported by the brackets 13 and 14 upon suitable rails 15 and 16, the

brackets carrying the rollers which contact with these rails, as best shown in Fig ure 5. The roller 17 contacting with the rail 15 is flanged, as

the roller on the rail, while the roller 18 is in the form of a caster roller so that it may til) support the carrier withoutbinding on the curves of the track. Each carrier is provided with a plurality of depending fins 19 which extend downwardly into the refrigerant 20 m the tank 6. These fins are shown in Figure 9 as being stepped whereby, when the fins are moved through the refrigerant, edd currents will be'formed and thus prevent t e formation of any film of warm refrigerant close to the surface of the fins. The refrigerant will he -agitated by the projections or ste s on the fins, thus causing the currents e erred to designated 7 in shown,'1n order to maintain above and preventing the formation of the objectionable film of warm refrigerant. The

surfaces of the fins will thus be continuously exposed to fresh cold refrigerant.

The conveyor will move the carriers through the refrigerant and the track formed b the rails 15 and 16 will support the carriers so that the top thereof will always remain out of contact with the refrigerant. In fact the carrier extends substantially across the tank as shown in Figure 5 and thus obviates the danger of refrigerant coming in contact with the top surface of the carrier, where the comestibles are placed. The top of the carrier is ezitended outwardly inthe form of a flange 21 which supportsthe brackets 14. This flange is continuous,so as to form an apron on which comestibles may be moved when being placed on or removed from a carrier.

As the carriers leave the cold refrigerant tank at 8 they are elevated due to the inclinat'ionof the track as indicated at 22 in Figure 6, whereby the fins of the carriers are completely raised out of the refrigerant and then guided downwardly at 23 into a tank 24 containing relatively warm liquid, which may be refrigerant, at a temperature above the freezing point of the comestible. Adjacent the warm tank is an unloading station 25 at which may stand other operators to unload comestibles from the carriers. The

operation of the device is so timed that the comestibles will be frozen during the time the carriers pass through the tank of cold refrigerant and the passage of the carriers through the tank of relatively warm liquid will impart just sufiicient heat to each carrier so that the comestibles thereon ma be loosened without trouble and removed f iom the carriers.

Referring now particularl to Figures 5 and 7 it will be seen that ret rigerant is admitted to the tank through the inlets 26, passing through the manifold 27 from which it is discharged through the dischar e openings' 28. Referring particularl to igure 5 it will be seen that the mani old is so arranged that the penings 28 are disposed between the fins 1 as these fins pass the manifold, Therefore the refrigerant will bedischarged in a direction generally parallel to the length of the carriers and will set up a current between the fins, it being understood that there is a discharge opening between each pair of fins. The carrier is moved towards the right, as viewed in Figure 7, whereas the current f the refrigerant is in the opposite direction, as indicated by the arrows in that figure. In order to insure a continuously fresh supply of cold refrigerant, I employ a plurality of inlets and outlets, having found in this embodiment that good results are obtained by having a pair of inlets and a pair of outlets disposed within the length of twocarriers. The outlets are indicated at 29 in Figure 7 and these outlets communicate with a manifold having a plurality of openings 31 therein through which the refrigerant may ass. rangement divides the tank 6 mto a plurality of sections, each having inlets and outlets 31 of the outlet manifold. The excess refrigerant will accumulate between the two bottoms and will form'a cushion to insulate the refrigerant above the false bottom from the relatively warm air beneath the bottom 32, thus increasing the efliciency of the apparatus. The inlet manifold 27 is so arranged that it will prevent flow of the refrigerant ably directly from the openings 28to the openings 31 and this is also prevented by the fact that the refrigerant leaves the openings 28 with sufficient current to flow the length of the false bottom, or until it strikes the next inlet manifold 27, when it will be deflected to theoutlets-29.

Referring now particularly to Figures '1, 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen that I have provided a cleaning apparatus designated generally at 34 and comprising a rotary brush ,35 operated by a motor 36 in a direction opposite to the movement of the carriers 10, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 4. The brush is preferably received within a housing 37 and the housing is provided at its bottom with scrapers '38 and 39, one on each side of the housing. The scraper 38 will remove from a carrier a largeportion of the coarser ma-- terial which may be stuck thereto. The carrier will then be sub'ected to the action of the rotating brush, followed by a spray 40, and the scra er 39 will remove the remaining material WhlCh has been thoroughly loosene and softened by the brush and spray.

In order to increase the 'efliciency of operation of the apparatus the cold'refrigerant tank is prefera ly enclosed throughout its length in a shed 41 and in the shed are preferlaced suitable refrigerating coils 42 to maintain the temperature of the air therein at a desirable low point. The coils are not relied upon to freeze the fish or other comestibles on the carriers but to cool the air so that the refrigerant in the'tank will not have to perform that function and may be used entirely for freezin% the comestibles,

In operation the sh or other; comestibles are placed upon the carriers at the loading station 9, as the carriers pass the station. The carriers then enter the shed and the fins on the carriers pass through the circulating This arsectional area so that the heat from the comestibles may be readily conducted to the conmeans of the strengthening ribs 43 which not only strengthen the carriers but also provide additional conductin means. As the fins pass through the refrigerant the steps on the fins will prevent the formation of any films of warm refrigerant because of the agitation which the cause, as pointed out above. Because of t e arrangement of inlets and outlets a constant supply 'o f cold refrigerant is furnished, and this refri erant is constantly agitated by the fins, so t at the refrigerant warmed by the fins is carried awa at once,

and replaced by cold refrigerant. herefore it will be seen that the comestibles are frozen ducting surface. The conduction is aided by p entirely by conduction directly through the carrier to the refrigerant. e large conducting cross-section, together with the large conducting surface makes this possible, and

then the heat, 'when itreaches the refrigerant, is rapidly carried away by the continuously replenished supply of fresh cold refrigerant. When the end of the shed is reached at the point 8 the carriers are autousing a large number of pans for ong periods of time is avoided. The fish or other articles may be' takendirectly from the carriers and packed for shippin or other disposition. If desired, a nnm er of fish or ieces of fish, such as fillets or the like, may

e'frozen in the form of a block, as shown in Figure 10, by placing them in a container 44 on a carrier to receive the fillets 45 or the like. This container is bottomless, as shown, so that the heat from the food may pass directly to the carrier and thus through the carrier to the refrigerant.

Certain articles which it may be desired to freeze, such, for example, as smoked fillets, do not make good contact with a carrier because they will not lie flat thereon, thus leav ing air pockets between the carrier and the comestibles which act as insulation to prevent passage of heat from the comestibles to the carrier. This difliculty is overcome in my in vention by providing in the shed 41 a compartment 46 having therein a door 47 opening to the atmosphere. This compartment is preferably disposed at the end of the shed next the loading station'9. The carriers upon which comestibles are to'be placed are permitted to pass the loading station and enter the coldrefrigerant in thetank within the compartment 46 without any comestibles' thereon. By the time one of these carriers reaches the door 47 the surface will have assumed a temperature well below the freezing point so'that, when a fillet or the like is placed on the carrier and pressed down thereon,.athe moist surface of the fillet will'stic'k to thecold surface of the carrier wherever the tWo are brought togetherunder pressure. Therefore the above arrangement permits the fillets for other comestibles to be placed on the carriers at the door 47 and pressed down on the carriers by hand. The com artment is separated from the rest of the shed so as to prevent entrance of warm air into the main part of the shed and'therefore serves the additional purpose .of an air lock, preventing the free access of outsideair to the shed or tunnel. By this method the contact surface on the comestible immediately freezes and the enlarged surface contact between the comestible and the carrier, which is thus produced, is maintained until the comestible is removed.

comestibles and the refrigerant and which are provided-with large contact surfaces for contact with. the comestibles and the refrigerant.

In freezing whole fish by this process some varieties, such as flounder, possess long flat surfaces so that they may be laid on the.

warm plate at loading station 9 and of their own weight will have such contact withthe freezing. plate that they will freeze rapidly in the tunnel-or shed rieties, such as mackerel, the fish are so round that the area of contact between fish andplate would be relatively small if loaded at station 9. To improve the freezing speed of such latter fish they may be placed on freezing plates at the door 47, after such plates have assumed temperatures well below freezing, and pressed by hand in order to'enlarge the contact surface. Such enlarged contact surface will be maintained throughout the freezing action because the moist surface of the fish will be in contact with a plate which is cold enough to cause the fish to adhere thereto, while if it were in contact with a warm plate it would not adhere'thereto.

The heat is carried from the large contact A surface of a comestible to the large conducting surface'in the refrigerant by means of conductors of large cross-section. Moreover,

the carriers at the same time prevent the recomestibles. .the tank is preferably disposed below the .it would reach the top of the carrier.

many changes of form and 41. With other va-- frigerant from coining in contact with the It will be noted that the top of level of the top of the carrier 10 so that any refrigerant in the tank would overflow beflolre 1e apron 21 further provides a seal along the outer edge of the tank to prevent the refrigerant from reaching the top surface of the carrier and similar aprons could, if desired, be placed along the other edges of the carriers, for the same purpose. r

The refrigerant will be continually circulated to carry away the heat which is con -v ducted to it fromthe fins and the plurality of inlets and outlets insure a continual supply of fresh cold refrigerant. This refrigerant is continually agitated so as to insure that fresh refrigerant is always in contact with thefins and this is achieved-by the stepped formation of fins shown in Figure 9. The agitation may be increased by roughening the surfaces of the fins either by providing the (orrugations 48 showhjn Figure 11 on a fin 19 or the recesses 43in Figure 12 on a fin 19'. The form of drive employed for the conveyor is preferably one which will permit adjusting the speed of movement of the carriers so that the time which a comestible spends in the shed or tunnel maybe varied to insure proper freezing of the comestibles, as some articles offood require a longer time to freeze than doiothers.

The result of the construction described above is a very efficient apparatus which will very greatly cut down the time of freezing comestibles and will perform this result at greatly reduced cost. While I have shown and described one form which my invention may take, this has been done merely for the purposes of illustration, as I am awarethat arrangement of parts mybe" made without-departing from the spirit do not intend to limit myself exceptby the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A freezing apparatus comprising a carrier,- means-on said carrier to support comestibles out of contact with the coolin medium during the freezing operation, epending elements on the carrier to conduct heat away from said comestibles, said elements contacting with said cooling medium whereby the heat is removed from the elements.-

2. A freezing apparatus comprising a'carrier, means on said carrier to support comesof my invention and, therefore, I

tibles, elements \on the carrier to conduct heat away from said comestibles, said elements contacting -with a stream of refri erant whereby theheat is removed therefro and means on said elements to agitate said refrigerant.

3. A freezing apparatus comprising a track, a tank having a refrigerant therein,

elements in said refrigerant.

carriers maintainin the comestibles out of contact with the refrigerant during the freezing operation supportedon said track and depending elements contacting with; the refrigerant, said elements having large. crosse sec-tionsand lar e conductin surfaces in contact with, the re rigerant, an means for mov ing said carriers along said track with said 5. A freezingapparatus comprising a track, a tank having a refrigerant therein, carriers supported on said track and having elements contacting with the refrigerant, said elements having large cross-sections and large con-ducting surfaces in contact with the refrigerant, means for moving said carriers along said track with said elements in said refrigerant, and means on said elements for agitating said refrigerant.

6. A freezing apparatus comprising a track, a tank having a refrigerant therein, carriers maintaining the comestibles out of contact with the refrigerant during the freez- :ing operation supported on said track and having depending elements contactin with the refrigerant, means for moving said ca1 riers along said track with said elements in said refrigerant, and means causing the refrigerant to 'fiowin a direction opposite to the movement of the carriers.

7. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank divided into a plurality of sections, an inlet and an outlet for refrigerant in each. section at apfposite ends thereof, whereby refrigerant will ow lengthwise of each section, a carrier disposed above said tank and having elements depending into the refrigerant, and means for moving said carrier with said elements in said refrigerant. 5

8. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank divided into a plurality of sect1ons, a'carrier disposed above said tank and'having parallel fins depending into said tank, an inlet and an outlet for refrigerant in each section at opposite ends thereof a manifold communicatlng with the inlet an dischargin refrigerant between said fins, and means for moving said.

carrier so that said fins will move through said tank. I r

9. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank dividedintoa plurality of sections, a carrier disposed above said tank and having parallel fins depending into said tank, an inlet and an outlet for refrigerant in each section at opposite ends thereof,- a manifold communicating with the inlet and discharging refrigendless conveyor, a

erant between said fins,-and means formov-.

ing said carrier so that said fins will move through said tank, the movement of the carrefrigerant. v

10. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank means dividlng said tank into upper and lower parts, means for circulating refrigerant through the upper part of said tank, and means maintaining a cushion of relatively non-circulating refrigerant adjacent the bottom of said tank.

11. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank divided into a plurality of sections, an

inlet for refrigerant adjacent one end of each section and causing refrigerant to flow to-' ward. the other end thereof, a' false bottom in said section disposed beneath' said inlet and stopping short of the other end of said section, and an outlet disposed beneath said false bottom adjacent said other end of said section. v

'12. A freezin apparatus comprising a track, two tanks isposed adjacent said track, and a carrier su ported oil/said track and having heat-conclhcting elements extending into said tanks as the carrier moves along the track, one of said tanks containing relatively cold refrigerant to freeze comestibles on said carrier, and the other tank containing relatively warm liquid toloosen said comestibles from the carrier.

13. A freezing apparatus comprising an comestibles operate by said conveyor, a loading station and an unloading station disposed adjacent said conveyor, and a tank of refrigerant disposed adjacent said conveyor between said stations, said carriers maintainin the comestibles out of contact with there rigerant'during the freezing operation havin into t e refrigerant in said tank.

glur'ality of carriers for rier being opposite to the movement ofthe ion heat conducting elements extending 14. A freezing apparatus comprising an endless conveyor, a lurality of carriers for comestibles operate loading station and an unloading station disby said conveyor, a I

posed adjacent said conveyor, a tank containing cold refrigerant disposed adjacent said conveyor between said stations, said carriers having" heat-conducting elements extending into the refri erant' in saidtank,

' and a second tank containing relatively warmliquid adjacent said unloading station to re-. ceive said heat-conducting elements to warm said carriers and to loosen comestibles there 15. A freezing apparatus comprising an endless conveyor, a plurality of carriers for comestibles operated by said conveyor, a loading station and an unloading station disposed adjacent said conveyor, a tank containing cold refrigerant disposed adjacent said conveyor between said stations, said carriers having heat conducting elements extending into the refrigerant in said tank, a second tank containing relatively warm liquid adjacent said unloading station to receive said heat-conducting elements to warm said carriers and to loosen comestibles thereon, and means for cleansing said carriers after they pass said unloading station and before they reach said loading station.

16. A freezing apparatus comprising an endless-conveyor, a plurality of carriers for comestibles operated by said conveyor, a track supporting said carriers, a loading station and an unloading station disposed adjacent said conveyor, a tank containin relatively cold refrigerant disposed adjacent said conveyor between said stations, a tank containing relativel warm liquid disposed adjacent said unloa ing station, said carriers having heat-conducting elements adapted to extend into the refrigerant in said tanks, and means on said track to lift said elements from a said cold refrigerant tank and dispose them in said warm liquid tank.

17. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank having a refrigerant therein, a carrier movable with respect to the refrigerant in said tank and having elements contacting with said refrigerant during said movement, said elements being of large cross-section and having large conducting surfaces in contact with the refrigerant, and means on said carrier to maintain comestibles out of contact with said refrigerant.

18. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank having a refrigerant therein, a carrier movablev with respect to the refrigerant in said tank and having depending elements contacting with said refrigerant during said movement, and means on said carrier to maintain comestibles out of contact with said refri erant.

19. A reezing apparatus comprising a conveyor,'a plurality of carriers for comestibles operated by said conveyor, a loading station and an unloading station disposed adacent said conveyor, and a tank containing refrigerant disposed adjacent said conveyor between said stations, said carriers having heat-conductin depending elements extending into the re rigerant in said tank.

20. A freezing apparatus comprising a conveyor, a plurality of carriers for comesti bles operated by said conveyor, a loading station andan unloading station disposed adjacent said conveyor, a tank containing refrigerant disposed adjacent said conveyor between said stations, said carriers having heat conducting depending elements extending into the refrigerant in said tank, and a shed enclosing said conveyor between said stations. i

21. A freezing apparatus com rising a conveyor, a plurality ofcarriers or comes tibles operated by said conveyor, a loadin station and an unloading station dispose adjacent said conveyor, atank of refrigerant disposed adjacent said conveyor between said stations, said carriers having heat-conductrier movable with respect to the refrigerant in said tank and having depending fins extending into said refrigerant.

23. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank having a refrigerant therein and a carrier movable with respect to-the refri erant in said tank and having fins exten ing into said refrigerant, said fins being provided with roughened surfaces.

24. A freezing apparatus comprising a track, a tank having a refrigerant therein, carriers supported'on said track and having elements contacting with the refrigerant, means formoving said carriers along said track with said elements in said refrigerant and means to provide a constant supply of cold refrigerant and cause it to flow in a direction opposite to the movement of the carrier.

- 25.- A freezing apparatus comprising a tank divided into a plurality of sections, an inlet and an outlet for refrigerant in each section at opposite ends thereof, whereby refrigerant will flow lengthwise of each section, a carrier disposed above said tank and having elements de )ending intothe refrigerant, and means or moving said carrier with said elements in said refrigerant in a direction opposite to the flow of said refrigerant.

26. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank divided into a plurality of sections, a

carrier disposed above said tank and having parallel fins depending into said tank, an inlet and an outlet for refrigerant in each section at opposite ends thereof, a manifold communicating with the inlet and dischargin refrigerant between said fins, and means or moving said carrier so that said fins will move through'said tank in a direcrefrigerant between said fins and cause it to flow in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of said carrier;

29. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank containing a refrigerant, a carrier, means on said carrier to maintain comestibles out of contact with said'refrigerant, said carrier having parallel fins depending in said refrigerant, and means to discharge refrigerant between said fins.

30. A freezing apparatus comprising a tank containing a refrigerant, a carrier, means for moving said carrier, means on said carrier to maintain comestibles out of contact with said refrigerant, a plurality of parallel heat-conducting elements on said carrier contacting with said refrigerant, and means to discharge said refrigerant between said elements and'cause it to flow in a direction opposite to the movement of said carrier.

31. A freezing apparatus comprising a track, two tanks disposed adjacent said track, and a carrier supported on said track and having heat-conducting elements. extending into said tanks as the carrier moves along the track, one of said tanks containing relatively cold refrigerant to freeze comestibles on said carrier, and the other'tank containing relatively warm liquid to loosen said comestibles from the carrier, and means on said carrier to maintain the comestibles out of contact with said refrigerant and said warming medium.

32. A freezing apparatus comprising an endless conveyor, a plurality of carriers for comestibles operated by said conveyor, a loading station and an unloading station disposed adjacent said conveyor, a tank ofre-- frigerant disposed adjacent said conveyor between said stations, said carriers having heat-conducting elements extending into the refrigerant in said tank, and means on said carrier to maintain the comestibles out of contact with said refrigerant;

33. A freezing ap aratus comprising an endless conveyor, a p urality of carriers for comestibles operated by said conveyor, a loading station and an unloading station disposed adjacent said conve or, a tank containing cold refrigerant isposed adjacent said conveyor between said station's, said carriers having heat-conducting elements ex-- tending into the refri erant in said tank, and

a' second tank contaming relatively warmliguid adjacent said unloading station and a apted to receive said heat-conducting elements to warm said carriers and to loosen comestibles thereon,and means on said carrier to maintain the comestibles out of .consaid refrigerant and said warming 7 tact with medium; I

'34. A freezing apparatus comprising a conveyor, a plurality of carriers operated by said conveyor, a loadi stationand an in-- loading station dispose adjacent saidg-conveyor, a tank containing refrigerant disposed veyor, a tank containing refrigerant dis osed adjacent said conveyor between sai stations, and means for cleaning said carriers disposed betweenthe unloading and loading stations, said means comprising a scraper. 35. A freezing apparatus comprising a conveyor, a plurality of carriers operated by said conveyor, a loading station and an un- 1 loading station disposed adjacent said con- 5 adjacent said conveyor between said stations, 7

and means for cleaning said carriers disposed between the unloading and loading stations, said means comprising a scraper and a rotary brush.

,36. A freezing apparatus comprising a conveyor,a plurality of carriers operated by said conveyor, a loading station and an unloading station disposed adjacent said conveyor, a tank containing refrigerant disposed adjacent said conveyor between saidstations, and means for cleanin'gsaid car-. riers disposed between the unloading and loading stations, said means, comprising a scraper, a rotary brush and a spray.

In testimony whereof, L have afiixed my signature to this specification.

' ALEXANDER H. COOKE. 

